When Lance Bishop of Lamoine graduates from Mount Desert Island High School in June he’ll take with him more than just a high school diploma. He also departs with the knowledge that he almost certainly will help save lives in the future.
As part of his Senior Exposition, Lance set out to become a certified American Heart Association CPR instructor so he could teach these life saving skills to others. “I wanted a project where I could give back to the community,” he said. “I could learn about myself but also help others and give back.”
To accomplish his goal, Lance connected with Jeff Boal, RN, who is Mount Desert Island Hospital’s director of education. It just so happened to be on the day Boal and his team were offering a community CPR class that same evening. He invited him to attend to see if it was something he wanted to pursue. “It was obvious to me he was comfortable working with people and was truly interested in helping,” Boal said.
As a result of that initial class, Boal, along with Betsy Corrigan, RN, MSN, MDI Hospital’s clinical nurse educator, agreed to mentor Lance and help him master the material and earn his national certification. “Lance is the kind of kid you want to help,” Boal said. “We were happy that MDI Hospital was able to provide him with a step forward.”
Over the course of three months Lance took formal classes online through the American Heart Association, co-taught classes with other instructors including Boal and Corrigan, and concluded with teaching his own class solo from start to finish. He is now certified to teach the Basic Life Support class to those in the medical fields and the Heartsaver and basic first aid courses for the general public.
Some of Lance’s first students will be his colleagues in the Franklin and Lamoine Fire Departments. With his instructor certification, he can now offer the classes his fellow firefighters need to stay current with their licenses. In the fall when he enters Galveston College in Galveston, TX, he can use his certification to earn extra money offering CPR to his classmates.
Boal is almost certain Lance’s skills will contribute to saving lives in the future. He cites the fact that in the past 18 months of offering community CPR classes he has documented nine instances when his students applied their skills to help save a life.
Throughout the process, Boal said, what became evident was Lance’s enthusiasm for helping others and his willingness to learn. “We had him audit our ACLS (advanced cardiac life support for medical professionals) class to see how he would do with more challenging material,” Boal said. “He did so well, if he had been eligible to earn his certification, we would have awarded it.”
Lance plans to study marine transportation in college and he’s committed to expanding his skills and certifications as an EMT and CPR instructor in order to always give back to his community.